​YES!!! The great horned owl trio have left the building! They flew in three different directions, too. I managed short video clips of two flying the coop; the third shot out so quickly I had lovely Impressionist-style video of blurred green leaves!

​The remaining blue jay also declared his independence…sorta…kinda. You may recall from previous years that jays are notorious beggars, and he’s still in that phase at the moment—he was much younger than his erstwhile buddy (he never fully trusted me) when he came in, so this guy’s continued visits for handouts are fine by me.

The frouncy red shoulder was released late last week, as well. No video; sorry.​However, this broadwing hawk came in with a mild concussion and as soon as he stopped hanging from his box “lid” like a bat and showed me he could eat on his own (concussed raptors rarely eat the first couple of days), he was good to go, as well…although, as you can see in the second video clip below, he may’ve thought I’d simply relocated him to a fresh hell, as the vireos (I think; hard to tell for sure) harassed the living bejeezus out of him!

So with all the releases, there’s a little breathing room at LWR, right? HAH! As fast as we turned ‘em out, more took their place.

These Carolina wren hatchlings were found in a car after it had been purchased in Florida and driven to Georgia. They weren’t discovered until the day after the purchase and were transported from South Georgia to LWR with no supplemental heat, arriving ice cold and with one of four DOA. A second baby died while I waited for them to warm up enough to start fluids prior to actual feeding. Feeding cold babies and/or feeding dehydrated babies will kill them, so this was a necessary delay. Because they’d missed so many feedings, the other two babies were kept under a full-spectrum lamp and fed small portions until late at night, way past the normal “bedtime” of a diurnal bird. This is normal procedure to attempt to compensate for missed feedings.​Unfortunately, the two remaining wrens didn’t survive the night.

Yet another grackle came in, younger than week’s and this one in pretty bad shape initially but by day’s end he’d perked up considerably and I thought he had a good chance. Unfortunately, he didn’t survive the night, either.​Grackle one is doing well, though, and is in the songbird flight now.

The single great crested flycatcher was joined by two sibs who’d been found on the ground covered with mites. Mites can cause fatal anemia in young birds, especially, so it was imperative they be treated ASAP. The mammal rehabber who received them followed my instructions to rid the birds of mites while she sought transportation to LWR, and they arrived hale, hearty and mite-free.​Three great cresteds—oh, the rehab gods have smiled on me! The adorable little sweethearts moved to the songbird flight late last week, after some “nest time” with ill-fated barn swallows.

​This killdeer was attacked by a dog last Sunday night and brought to LWR Monday morning. Nothing appeared broken and aside from a ding on his head, he seemed to’ve escaped the dog’s jaws unscathed—physically, that is. Killdeer are highly stressy little birds, and the stress of the attack and a new environment made his chances for survival slim to none. He died within hours of intake.

​The same transporter who brought the Carolina wrens and the great cresteds also delivered a red-headed woodpecker fledgling from the mammal rehabber. (I’m still trying to convince her she wants to do birds…) This juvie had all the right instincts but zero flight capability, and he died 24 hours after intake.

​This adult red-headed woodpecker was found by the roadside with a single puncture wound and massive swelling near the elbow. Initially, I suspected the swelling hid a fracture, but as it went down, I was delighted to be proven wrong. But there does seem to be some general neurological issue on that left side, as he tends to keep that foot balled up, as well, and he lists to that side when perching. He’s still a bit lethargic but is on meds as a precaution.

​With the raptor flight emptied of Three Stooges, the young barred owl and an adult barred recovering from a concussion moved in immediately.

​When callers said they had what they thought might be a baby hawk but it had “a mouth kinda like a turtle” I was 99% sure they had a chuck-will’s-widow, the largest member of the nightjar family and found widely throughout Georgia during breeding season. Sure enough, it was a fledgling chuck-will’s, rail thin but alert. Since all my previous experience with chuck-will’s-widows has been with adults, I put out a call to colleagues who’d had more experience with young ones and had my proposed protocol approved. Unfortunately, he began spitting back all his small meals undigested and then vomiting some sort of bile-like black substance and died during the night. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say he’d been exposed to insecticides of some sort.

​The crow continues to announce his presence to the resident murder but thus far they’re too busy with young of their own to investigate. I’m hoping when things slow down for all of us, corvid and human alike, they’ll check him out and accept him into the clan when he’s released.

In the “just what I need late in a hectic baby season” category, last week a fledgling hummer AND three chimney swifts came in.​Luckily, the hummer was at just the right age to quickly figure out syringe feeding of his special formula and I was able to rig the syringe so it hangs in his cage while he learns to self-feed. Win-win: hummer learns how to self-feed; I’m not tied to 15-minute feedings all day!

​The swifts are at least older birds, but not so old that they resist feeding by a human.

​Nothing special here—just a typical view in the songbird flight!

​And now, if you’ll excuse me, this rehabber—between editing (what pays the bills) and rehabbing (what creates the bills)—is now approaching 84 hours on 2 hours’ sleep, and that 2 hours was nearly three days ago—and the LWR website host has been a technological ass tonight, which hasn’t helped my sleep-deprived stupor. So I think I’ll crash for the night!

Thank you for what you do to save all these babies. I know what a daunting task it is. I really appreciate you!

Reply

Laurens Wildlife Rescue

7/5/2016 08:54:10 am

Thank YOU for handling the furry wildlings, and for taking in these feathered beauties and getting them to LWR! (Now, when are you coming to the Bird Side of rehab? ;^) )

Reply

Pipette

7/5/2016 09:30:16 am

This week's "list" (so to speak) is simply astonishing in terms of the variety of birds and ills that you are called upon to deal with. I can't fathom how you do it all, but wow, I am so deeply grateful that you're willing and able to provide all this care (and even more impressed that you can do it when you're severely under-slept).

I saw a broadwinged in Brooklyn once. No one believed me until a couple of birders saw it in the park. Where were the swifts found? They are the reason I have a cap on my fireplace chimney. I'm exhausted just reading your posts.

Reply

Laurens Wildlife Rescue

7/5/2016 05:14:10 pm

Hey Ann, broadwings for the longest time were "officially" not supposed to nest in GA but apparently they didn't get that memo, so finally the officials had to change their records.

I encourage everybody to cap chimneys. These babies' nest fell, apparently, and the babies were found in the living room. Attempts to place in the bottom of fireplace and allow parents to feed there--which they often will do--were unsuccessful.